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Biotic reactive oxygen species drive arsenic oxidation in paddy soils

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  Biotic reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a crucial role in driving arsenic oxidation in paddy soils, especially under the dynamic redox conditions created by flooding and drainage cycles. Soil microorganisms, plant roots, and associated rhizosphere processes actively generate ROS such as hydrogen peroxide, superoxide radicals, and hydroxyl radicals during respiration, root exudation, and microbial metabolism. These biotically produced ROS can rapidly oxidize the more mobile and toxic arsenite (As³⁺) to arsenate (As⁵⁺), which has a stronger affinity for iron (hydr)oxides and soil minerals. As a result, arsenic becomes less mobile and less bioavailable, reducing its uptake by rice plants. The interaction between microbial activity, iron redox cycling, and root-induced oxygen release enhances ROS production, creating microsites of intense arsenic transformation. This process highlights the importance of biological controls over arsenic speciation in paddy soils and underscores how ...
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Coastal Wetland Plant-Soil System Responses to Environmental Stress

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  Coastal wetland plant–soil systems play a critical role in maintaining ecosystem stability while facing increasing environmental stressors such as salinity intrusion, flooding, nutrient loading, pollution, and climate change. Wetland plants respond to these stresses through physiological and morphological adaptations, including salt exclusion, osmotic adjustment, aerenchyma development, and altered root architecture, which help maintain oxygen transport and nutrient uptake under waterlogged conditions. Simultaneously, soil properties such as redox potential, organic matter dynamics, microbial activity, and nutrient cycling are strongly influenced by plant responses and stress intensity. Environmental stress can shift soil biogeochemical processes, affecting carbon sequestration, nitrogen transformation, and sulfur cycling, with direct feedbacks on plant productivity and resilience. The close coupling between plants and soils enables coastal wetlands to buffer extreme conditions, ...
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Synergistic agricultural systems improve soil health and support sustainable land use in sandy soils

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  Synergistic agricultural systems—such as integrated crop–livestock farming, diversified crop rotations, agroforestry, and the combined use of organic amendments with precision nutrient management—play a critical role in improving soil health and enabling sustainable land use in sandy soils. These systems enhance soil organic matter inputs through residues, manures, cover crops, and root biomass, which improves aggregate stability, water-holding capacity, and resistance to erosion—key limitations of sandy soils. Biological synergy among plants, soil microorganisms, and beneficial fauna stimulates nutrient cycling, increases microbial biomass and enzyme activity, and reduces nutrient leaching by synchronizing nutrient release with crop demand. The inclusion of legumes and deep-rooted species enhances nitrogen fixation, nutrient capture from deeper layers, and carbon sequestration, while reduced tillage and residue retention protect fragile soil structure. Collectively, these integr...
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Recoupling Crops and Livestock to Enhance Soil Biogeochemistry #soil #sc...

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Bioinoculants with Nano-compounds to Improve Soil Health

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  Bioinoculants integrated with nano-compounds represent an emerging, sustainable strategy to improve soil health and enhance agricultural productivity. Bioinoculants such as plant growth–promoting rhizobacteria, mycorrhizal fungi, and beneficial microbial consortia support nutrient cycling, biological nitrogen fixation, phosphorus solubilization, and soil organic matter stabilization. When combined with nano-compounds—such as nano-zinc, nano-iron, nano-silica, or nano-biochar—the efficiency and persistence of these beneficial microbes are significantly enhanced. Nano-materials improve microbial colonization, protect inoculants from environmental stress, and enable controlled nutrient release, leading to better root–microbe interactions. This synergistic approach improves soil structure, enhances enzymatic activity, increases nutrient availability, and promotes resilient soil microbial communities. Moreover, bioinoculants with nano-compounds reduce dependence on chemical fertilizer...
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Field evidence of seed coating with the degrading bacterium mitigating atrazine risks to soybeans in black soils

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  Field evidence demonstrates that seed coating with atrazine-degrading bacteria is an effective, eco-friendly strategy to mitigate herbicide risks to soybeans grown in black soils . Atrazine residues in black soils often persist due to high organic matter and limited microbial degradation, leading to phytotoxic effects on sensitive crops such as soybean. Field trials show that coating soybean seeds with specialized atrazine-degrading bacterial strains enhances rhizosphere microbial activity, accelerates atrazine breakdown, and significantly lowers residual toxicity during early crop establishment. This biological seed treatment improves seedling emergence, root development, nodulation, and overall plant vigor while maintaining weed control efficiency. Moreover, the approach reduces atrazine leaching and accumulation in soil–plant systems, supporting soil health and microbial diversity. The results highlight seed coating with degrading bacteria as a sustainable agronomic practice ...
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New Advances of Silicon in the Soil-Plant System

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  Recent advances in the understanding of silicon in the soil–plant system highlight its emerging role as a beneficial element for sustainable agriculture and environmental resilience. Although not classified as an essential nutrient for most crops, silicon significantly enhances plant growth, productivity, and stress tolerance. Modern research reveals that silicon improves soil physical properties by promoting aggregation, enhancing water retention, and reducing nutrient leaching, thereby creating a more favorable root environment. In plants, silicon uptake and transport mechanisms have been clarified at the molecular level, with the identification of specific silicon transporter genes that regulate its accumulation in roots and shoots. Silicon deposition in plant tissues strengthens cell walls, improves mechanical stability, and enhances resistance against pests, diseases, drought, salinity, heavy metal toxicity, and temperature extremes. Advances in nano-silicon fertilizers and ...
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